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Updated: June 16, 2025
Having beached their boat, they fell to letting off their calivers and pistols and hallooing: "'Oho, Captain! they roared, 'Bartlemy, ahoy! And this outcry maintained they for some while. But none appearing to answer, they seemed to take counsel together, and thereafter set off three and three, shouting as they went.
Pacheco arrived at the passage of Cambalan two hours before day, and seeing no appearance of the zamorins approach, he made an attack on a town on the coast of the island about the dawn, which was defended by 300 naires, all archers, and a small number armed with calivers, or match-locks, all of whom were embarked in certain paraws, and endeavoured to defend the entrance of the harbour.
It was a gallant, mad attempt, but utterly hopeless from the first. The frigate was "armed round about with a close fight of hides," and "full of pikes and calivers, which were discharged in their faces, and deadly wounded those that were in the fore ship, John Drake in the belly, and Richard Allen in the head."
As they towed her out, the town took the alarm, the bells were rung, thirty great cannon were fired, and the garrison, both horse and foot, well armed with calivers, marched down "to the very point of the wood," to impeach them "if they might" in their going out to sea. The boats, which were sparsely manned, had been at Nombre de Dios at the time of the raid.
The sons of Don John had conspired with the Portuguese against them, so that they were almost taken by surprise; yet they recovered their boat and pushed off from the shore, on which the Portuguese discharged their calivers or muskets at them, but hurt none of them; in revenge for which hostility, the people in the ship had fired off the two guns formerly mentioned.
"The old English writers call those large muskets calivers; the harquebuss was a lighter piece, that could be fired without a rest.
Mr Foster and his men were amazed at this sudden assault, and were greatly concerned to think themselves ready to be put to death; yet some of them, much concerned for their own and Mr Fosters danger, and believing themselves doomed to death if landed as prisoners, determined either to defend themselves manfully or to die with arms in their hands, rather than to submit to the hands of the tormentors ; wherefore they boldly took to their weapons, some armed with javelins, lances, and boar-spears, and others with five calivers ready charged, being all the fire-arms they had.
Just at this time, Laurenço Moreno joined Pacheco with four of his men armed with calivers, who were all anxious to be present in the battle, and of whose arrival the general was extremely glad, as he knew them to be valiant soldiers.
The peaceful Spanish townspeople were not at war with any civilized nation, and they could not understand why bands of armed men should invade their streets, enter the market-place, fire their calivers, or muskets, into the air, and then sound a trumpet loud enough to wake up everybody in the place.
In addition to the foregoing, there were galleys, galliasses, and galleons stored with 22,000 pounds of great shot, 40,000 quintals, or hundredweights of powder, 1000 quintals of lead for bullets, 10,000 quintals of match, 7000 muskets and calivers, 1000 partisans and halberds, besides double-cannon and field-pieces for a camp on disembarking, and a great many mules, horses, and asses, with six months' provisions of all sorts.
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